Shelter Scotland has called for immediate action to tackle an increase in the number of children who are homeless

Shelter Scotland has called for urgent action to tackle an unacceptable rise in the number of homeless children across the country.

Published:10:51Wednesday 06 April 2016

Shelter Scotland has called for urgent action to tackle an “unacceptable” rise in the number of homeless children across the country.

The move follows the release of statistics from the Scottish Government which show a 13 per cent increase youngsters living in temporary accommodation as of December 31, 2015.

Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said: “This is the third annual rise in the number of homeless children in Scotland.

“A 13 percent rise is simply unacceptable in 21st century Scotland. Added to the fact that homeless children are now having to stay longer in temporary accommodation, this is an extremely worrying trend that needs urgent attention.

“At the heart of these statistics is Scotland’s housing crisis and the thousands of families and individuals who lost their homes last year. Along with the 150,000 households on council waiting lists, this is further evidence of the need for a political commitment to a major house building programme to deliver 12,000 new affordable homes each year for the next five years.”

Graeme continued: “These statistics also show the need for a new National Homelessness Strategy for Scotland and improved access to good quality temporary accommodation.

“While we recognise the financial pressures on local authorities, we would nevertheless call on them to protect and prioritise funding of homelessness service provisions.”